In the kitchen, the fridge bears a mechanical engineering diagram with fulcrums and levers, and the cabinet doors hold history timelines. Many of the educational adornments posted on the walls were devised by the children themselves as assignments.

When the children spread out on the kitchen table with their laptops, books and worksheets, their faithful pooch “Peanut” likes to wind between their legs.

After the two families offered enlightened reasons why they homeschool, a motivated Suffolk school administrator offered her argument against homeschooling.

Parents may be considering home schooling their child based on something they’ve heard, read or experienced in another setting,” she said.

“When considering home schooling, parents typically consider their level of expertise in teaching every subject area, resistance from the child in not attending school with his or her peers, opportunities for the child to engage socially with their peers if they will not be involved in sport activities and other activities offered at school.

“Parents must also be prepared to invest in the time required to plan, implement and assess quality lessons for their children.”

A public school expert might not know much about homeschooling, unless home educating their children themselves.

Amber Feliciano was a bit more gracious than the assistant superintendent.

Feliciano said the decision to home-school was hard, because Kilby Shores Elementary has “phenomenal teachers, but when you feel like their education is at risk, that’s when you have to (decide) which one is more important, and her education is more important.”

New to home schooling, she admitted to being “a little nervous” about teaching Kayla. “My daughter is very smart,” she said. “I know there’s going to be a time when she’s going to pass me. We are going to be learning together.”

She said Kayla is concerned about maintaining the friendships she made at Kilby Shores. “We will keep her active with soccer, and keep her in touch with her friends in school,” she said.